Tattoo artists are warning their clients against a new ink trend

Social media has made it easier than ever to share cool tattoo ideas. Instagram and Pinterest are great sources of inspiration, especially given how contemporary tattoo artists are getting more creative than ever with the medium.

But is there a danger in the quick spread of new styles?

One particular trend has taken off in the last five years: "watercolor" tattoos.

Watercolor tattoos have only been in style for about five years. It's hard to find one aged enough to settle the argument, but there are tattoo artists who have publicly defended the style. Joel Wright is one of them.

Wright took to his blog in 2013, explaining that "if you have a tattoo that is almost all shaded coloring with very little black then you have tattoo that could fade a little quicker. That does not mean it will."

He goes on to explain the many factors that can affect a tattoo's longevity. Sun exposure and skin damage can do a lot of harm.

In his blog post, Wright essentially concluded that anyone seeking a tattoo shouldn't be overly concerned with how it will look in 20-plus years. After all, touching up a tattoo down the road isn't atypical.
Another artist, Deanna Wardin, has a different argument.

Wardin believes watercolor tattoos can absolutely last a lifetime — if they had a strong black line base. In a 2014 blog post, Wardin said:

It is true that watercolor tattoos with little to no black, and all soft colors will probably fade much quicker than a traditional tattoo, but here is the kicker… watercolor tattoos can and should use high contrast and a black base. That way if some of the colors begin to fade, there is still a skeleton to the piece and it will still read well as it ages.

Gene Coffey is a skilled watercolor tattoo artist who often designs his work with lots of dark linework. It's possible that his approach to watercolor may be the longer-lasting one.
But not every artist has the skill to pull it off.

In a 2014 interview with Tattrx's Morgan English, Coffey admitted he was getting "turned off from the 'watercolor tattoos.' Mostly because they seem to have become an excuse for just doing bad tattoos. If you search Instagram for #watercolortattoo, it's filled with badly done, poorly conceived tattoos that are going to stay out there in the world forever."

Coffey explained how the trendiness of watercolor tattoos meant "every shop has people coming in and asking for it. But [many tattooers] can't do it."
Fads inherently mean that copycats will spring up. Here's an example of a master watercolor tattoo:

Source: TattrxOndrash is in the Czech Republic. Those who can't travel to get inked may turn to alternative artists with less experience in tattooing. This lion piece is one of his best — originally posted in late 2012.

This is an example found under #watercolorlion on Instagram. It's one of many that are similar in coloring and composition to Ondrash's work.

As Gene Coffey said, "It's just like anything else, if you haven't done it and aren't familiar with it, you aren't going to do a good job."

Here's what the tattoo looked like about 14 weeks later. You can see the color already fading a little, which is normal, but overall there has been no loss of detail.

This is only a matter of months, though. The true test will be more than 10 years down the road, and unfortunately fans of this style will have to wait to see the results.

The takeaway lesson from the debate about watercolor tattoos is not as simple as "don't do it." Instead, it all boils down to education. The most important thing a first-timer can do is learn about the art they are seeking out.

This is more of Gene Coffey's stunning work, which incorporates lots of black to hold the image together.

Find an experienced artist who specializes in watercolor tattoos, and know that the artwork may fade faster, requiring more frequent touch-ups.

In the end, body modification is always a highly personal choice, but knowing the pros and cons behind any modern trend — one so new that future outcomes are unpredictable — is an essential part of making that choice.